Wanderlust (Hiatus)
by Giggles the Cat
Summary: They say that death is the beginning, something that Isaac Clarke couldn't believe through out his life. They also say that your problems are over once you die, something that Isaac doesn't believe even in the afterlife either. Isaac, along with his new friends, must traverse the realms of the Underworld to relinquish the hold of an exiled Goddess too horrible to have existed.
1. The beginning of the end

**Hello, thank you for choosing to view my new story. I say new because I've written a Dead Space/ My Little Pony crossover before. You've might have read 'In the Air Tonight'? Well, I always thought it was too shallow and just straight up adolescent. Infact, I hated it so much, I took it off. I wanted to write a story of good humor and adventure, but later realized too late that a deep plot of an uplifting adventure with morals and side humor would of course surpass randomness. Though I must admit that I'm wasn't OC's at first either, but I now know that so long as the plot doesn't revolve around them, they can be rather enjoyable. I want to thank my friend MonkeysISee for offering to review my content for approval as my beta before blindly submitting chapters onto the story- one of such problems that went wrong in my previous story, or stories. The others were so terrible. that I still regret writing them in the first place. Oh, and I did use the pony creator version three for my cover art, since I'm terrible at creating art. However, everything that wasn't the base template of the pony was created by me. If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to share them with me as a review or personal message- I guarantee I will respond. Once again, thank you.**

* * *

"Isaac, are you there?" The engineer said nothing, but kept his focus on the outside from the view of the library's window. Twilight Sparkle took a large breath in as an attempt to maintain her patience with the quiet pegasus. Isaac wasn't usually unresponsive toward Twilight, ever since the town locals reported the large impact of debris just outside Ponyville's outskirts. The discovery of the impact would have been delayed if not for the rising smoke just over the golden horizon. At first, everypony thought it to be the work of a marauding dragon, but quickly dismissed the idea due to the fact that any dragons that are linked to combustion tend to prefer areas in which they can protect their pillaged treasures, thus an open field wouldn't seem very appealing for such a majestic creature to reside. When the locals arrived, they were shocked to find a pegasus laying the field of burning debris who looked as though he was on the brink of death. Immediately rushed to the hospital, the engineer kept repeating questions on the whereabouts of a friend- to which he wouldn't receive an answer. When Twilight Sparkle first met the engineer, he was outside along side with Nurse Redheart practicing trotting and small wing exercises. She wouldn't have given him a second look if not for what he had on his back and left arm. She asked the nurse if that was a new treatment for patients, but instead was shocked to hear that the strange illuminating devices belonged to the engineer. For several months, Twilight Sparkle would make a trip to visit Isaac, usually bringing souvenirs from Canterlot, and would ask questions on his strange technology and how his day was. At first, Isaac would answer in simple responses such as 'Yeah' and 'No", but the answers progressed as the visits became more often. Twilight seemed to no longer ask about his RIG nor his modules, but instead would describe her adventures with her friends and as well Equestrian traditions. Needless to say, the engineer found that almost everything she said seemed either unrealistic or rather cheesy, but gave up on his skepticism quickly when he remembered being a talking pegasus himself. When she would ask about his own life, the engineer gave her a sad smile and politely explained to her that it wasn't a subject he was comfortable discussing, to which the alicorn would compliantly drop the subject for the time being. When he was check out of the Ponyville Hospital, she offered to let him stay in her old library so long as he behaved himself- to which he did. Usually Twilight would be off with her friends, and Isaac would be doing odd jobs or reading. Today was different though. When she came home that night, she noticed a distraught Derpy Hooves flying around in a slight panic with a small letter in her mouth. The alicorn had asked the mailmare what was the matter, and was told that Derpy couldn't find a pony with the name of Isaac Clarke, to which Twilight responded that she knew the engineer and could give him the letter. After giving Isaac the letter, she noticed that his eyes widened as he was finishing the letter. Which led them to the current predicament.

"Isaac, what's wrong?" She asked once more, this time placing a hoof on his shoulder in concern. The engineer slowly moved his head to face her with a relieved sigh. "Is everything okay?" Isaac nodded. "What did the letter say, if you don't mind me asking?" He quickly gave her the small piece of paper. It read, '_Isaac, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm sorry I couldn't stay to help you, or even see you recover- or even if you did- but I have something to do here. Alone. I'm sorry about Ellie, but know that we can't help her nor Earth now. Together anyway. I'm not great at sentimentals, but know that I'm going to make things right. For both of us. -Jonathan Carver_' Twilight quirked an eyebrow. '_A friend?_' She thought to herself before getting up to place the paper on the coffee table before returning to sit next to the pegasus. "Who's Carver?" Isaac turned to his head to face her before giving off a small chuckle.

"He's...he's my friend. I thought he was dead to be honest." She was taken back slightly as his last remark, and instead nervously smiled. They sat there a while before Isaac cleared his throat. "You've been around, right?"

"You could say that."

"Well, have you've seen him?" Twilight shrugged.

"What's he look like?" Isaac opened his mouth to respond, but paused. 'How would Carver look like now?' He thought. "Well...he has a RIG like me, except his is a dark blue light. Oh! Also, he has a scar down his face. Twilight sighed. "I know, I haven't seen him for quite a bit, sorry for the lack of information." The alicorn shook her head lightly.

"No, no, it's fine. I'll inform the guards at Canterlot to keep an eye out for him."

"Thank you." Isaac thanked softly before looking down in a slight disappointment.

"Of course, anything to help a friend out!" She smiled and reached over to hug the engineer. The feel of a warm sign of friendship was foreign to the engineer. Isaac flinched as she tightened the embrace between them. The pegasus slowly began to return a hug, but was interrupted by the sight of the window again. Isaac felt his heart race at the sight of a black-hooded white unicorn staring from outside the window with its face shrouded by her hood. Twilight laughed. "Geez Isaac, I didn't think it was THAT much of a tender moment!" Her laughter stopped by the stiffness of the engineer's body. She broke the hug slightly to look at his widened eyes. "Isa-" She was cut mid sentence and pushed down on the love seat by the engineer before he stormed out of the door. She quickly lifted herself from the love seat bewilderingly. "Isaac, where are you going?!" She hopped off the simple purple seated furniture and looked out at the window to see the engineer galloping through the town- pushing others who were unfortunate enough to get in his way. She groaned. "Was it something I said?!"

* * *

The engineer rushed passed the townsponies in a rush as he continued to pursue the mysterious unicorn. "Hey!" He shouted as loud as he could while galloping. This continued for a few minutes before eventually the unicorn ran out of breath and stopped. Panting, it looked around for the engineer, only to be met with numerous yellow homes and a few trash bins lined up in the alley the pony was in. The hooded pony continued to pant as it slowly trot forward towards a corner of house, but as soon as its head poked past the corner, the white unicorn was instantly bashed against its nose by a light tanned hoof. The unicorn recoiled in pain while backing up, but instead felt a the arm of the attacker hook around its own left arm and was quickly slammed against the ground. In an instant, the unicorn felt an immense pressure press down against its neck as the engineer began his forearms against the throat of the stranger. His face came closer to the face of the mysterious hooded pony as he applied more pressure- the neck of the unicorn popped as he did so. "Who are you," He shouted as he gritted his teeth, "why were you spying on me?! How long have you've done it?!" The unicorn desperately attempted to speak, only to make incoherent noises from its tightening throat. It began to tap coldly on the forearms of the engineer as tears began to flow down its cheeks. Isaac hesitantly stood back on fours and watched as the unicorn too a large breath in, followed by a series of harsh wheezes and coughs. One of its dusty-rose colored arm stockings held on to Isaac for support as it attempted to regain its composure, to which the engineer instinctively shoved the gloved arm away. Isaac began to take notice of what the stranger was wearing; it sported an armless black duster with yellow lining on the flaps where it covered its flank. Something somewhat feminine to what the engineer could make out. It spat out excess saliva before placing a hoof on its hood- revealing its face to be indeed a mare's along with a low saturated blue hair with a small light blue streaks flowing down. Her eyes matched her own dull stockings as she wiped her eyes of tears.

"I'm sorry." She raspily apologized. The engineer couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for causing harm toward such an innocent looking mare, despite having a justified reason to have done it in the first place. "I needed to know if- oh my gosh this hurts- if you were one of the ponies that I was looking for." She explained. Isaac squinted his eyes in confusion.

"Explain more." Isaac commanded. She quickly nodded as she carefully rubbed her sore neck.

"My name is Virtue; I'm an advocate for our Goddess, Montina. Ther–"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan in religion." Virtue frowned.

"I'm not trying to convert you, I need your help." Isaac said nothing. Virtue sighed. "Look, I know we just met, and I don't even know your name, but–"

"My name's Isaac Clarke." The white unicorn scowled at the engineer- beginning to feel even more frustrated by being cut offed.

"Isaac, there's a prophecy my church believes in, and it's not a very merry one either." The engineer kept silent, but leaned in closer in some intrest. "It foretells of the end of the world, and others as well. When heavens divide, there will come the likes of the heroes which haven't been seen. They'll bear lights that shall glow eerily in the night, and will carry knowledge far beyond understood by the present time. From what would be a gift from our heavens, instead will bring upon the end times. The two shall bring forth the missing link which shall connect the universe toward the realm of hatred and sorrow- Naught. The world will transgress into the afterlife. The two heroes shall separate in paths. One will fight for the Light, the other for Darkness, but both will reach toward the same goal in the end." Virtue grimaced as she looked down at her own hooves. "Isaac, if the Hero of Light fails, the Darkness shall succeed, and Niekas will create her own world for those to reside in. Isaac, if she wins, many ponies will suffer- those who have families, friends." She paused as she felt her lip began to quiver. "Those who don't deserve to die." The engineer remained silent as she felt emotional tears replace the previous ones. She shook her head as she wiped her eyes once more. "You know what? You're right; I am wasting my time here. I'm sorry to be an inconvenience to you; I hope you and your wife have a pleasant rest of the day. Goodbye." She turned around to leave- leaving the engineer feeling uncomfortable about the misconception of being the spouse of Twilight Sparkle.

"Hey, she's not my wife you know! She's just a fri-" The engineer paused at the sight of another unicorn parallel to them. It had a large cloak covering its entire body along with a cowl covering everything but an exposed strip of brown hair and its horn- which seemed to be slightly more colorful and lighter than Isaac's own. The engineer groaned in disbelief. "Is this another one of your goddess's followers? How persistent are you guys?" However, Isaac froze as he noticed the stranger begin to stand on its hind legs and pull back one of its sleeves to reveal a large red blade with a black middle strip. From what Isaac could make out, it seemed to be attached to his hoof- if not held together further up the arm. "Virtue, I thought your religion tended to be less...violent. Is that a common misconception, or is that always expected?" Isaac sarcastically asked, expecting a witty remark back, only to be greeted with an eerie silence. That's when the engineer noticed two things he wasn't hoping to see: Virtue obviously didn't know who the cloaked stranger was, and that the stranger sported a metallic-blue insignia of the marker on his chest.

"Isaac, get behind me." The white unicorn ordered in a sturdy voice. "Now." She ordered once more as she kept her gaze fixed upon the stranger. The engineer stood there, taking in the notice of how the air felt colder than it was. Unable to move from his own shock, Virtue instead backed away in front of Isaac defensively. "It's happening already." She spoke out loud as she attempted to keep calm. "Hero of Darkness, hear me!" The figure stood still with its unreadable expression. Isaac was at a loss for words. 'Was she right?' The engineer thought to himself as he had his gaze locked on the marker on the cloak of the 'Hero of Darkness'. "Here stands before me the Hero of Light- Champion of Motina herself! Surrender to Her grace and drop the Pollux blade, or I'll see to it that you explain yourself before the Mother as She judges you from Her Kingdom in the Heavens!" The figure stood there as it raised it sword challengingly. She huffed. "So be it." She stood up on her own hind legs and held out her arms- her horn glowing a brilliant white as she cast a spell. When Isaac had seen that the horn had stop glowing, he was surprised to see white glowing transparent blades extending from her outstretched hooves. She quickly sprinted toward the cloaked figure on her back legs- a feat that Isaac would originally think to be impossible. "I won't let you bring the world to its knees!"

Virtue quickly lunged forward and swung both blades in a horizontal motion, only to have the Pollux blade intercept her swing. Using the momentum, the strange figure kicked her in the stomach- sending her to the ground. Out of breath, she swiftly swung her legs to sweep the figure off its hooves. The cloak attacker grunted in pain it fell to the ground with a thud, but still managed to rollback as Virtue rolled forward with her blades outstretch- slamming the ground with an electrical thud. Just before she could jab one of her conjured blades into the Hero of Darkness, he pivoted his arm as he aimed the Pollux blade at the crusader. A large kinetic blast shot out of the red glowing light that was located on the top wrist of the cloaked unicorn, causing Virtue to violently tumble back as well as knocking back the shocked engineer. The engineer quickly jumped back into the strange reality he was in as he watched in horror as the cloak figure pierced the blade of Pollux into the stomach of the white unicorn. Virtue gritted her teeth in pain- her conjured blades vanished as the bloodied blade was pulled out. Virtue helpless was levitated face-to-face with the stranger. She closed her eyes as it raised its Pollux blade to finish her off. She heard a large clash of steel as she slowly slowly opened her eyes. What she saw brought hope back into her weakened body. Isaac too had his own blade attached to his wrist. Virtue instinctively recalled the bright-golden blade and the grey-steel wrist guard, however, she didn't recall two orange steel guards on the side of the weapon itself. "Castor!" She murmured to herself feebly- addressing the weapon's name. Isaac held Castor against the blade of Pollux and stared into the hidden eyes of the attacker.

"I don't know if what she said is true, but she's right about you not hurting any of these innocent ponies. Prophecy or no prophecy, I'm stopping you!" The figure chuckled in a male voice.

"Likewise, marker-boy." Suddenly, the attacker bashed the engineer in the nose with his forearm and slammed the recoiled engineer down to the ground. Isaac dismissed the pain and rolled away from the stomp of the marker-bearer. The engineer got up on all fours and awkwardly swung the blade sideways, only for the Hero of Darkness to block his swing with his own blade. The returning force caused Isaac to move back as his arm was pushed back. In a desperate attempt, the engineer attempted to put the wielder of Pollux into stasis, only for his stasis shot to be deflected by the sword's conjured force field, and the shot instantly fired back upon Isaac. The engineer grunted in pain as the Pollux blade slash against his ribs- knocking his now bleeding stasis-covered body down slowly. As he fell back slowly, Isaac could see black pools beginning to emerge from the ground in his peripheral vision, and out of those pools spawned terrifying fully black figures of what he could make out to be a cross between the different races of ponies and necromorphs- all sporting yellow eyes. However, unlike their grotesque counterparts, these creatures seemed to look well fitted and congruent. The figure stood over both fallen ponies and shook his head. "We need our Goddess to bring unity to everything. A world without death, regrets, or heartache. What better place for us?" Isaac tilted his head down to see nine other ponies dressed in the same marker cloak as the attacker. Three Earth ponies, three pegasus, and three unicorns. "Join with the rest!" The engineer could faintly hear screams of horror from the townsponies, and painfully attempted to get up, only to feel himself beginning to sink. The engineer struggled with all his might, but was unable to free himself from the black pool that surrounded him and Virtue. As he began to tire out, he looked up at the cloaked figure reveal himself and his scar. The engineer felt a sinking feeling of betrayal enter into his very soul. It was Carver. "You'll be happy now Isaac, we all will." The skies turned black as the engineer began to feel the cold grip of death take hold of his body. However, he felt an equally cold grip grasp upon his arm. Isaac turned to see Virtue grab hold of his arm tightly as she too sunk down into the darkness. She looked at him sadly before closing her eyes. The last thing Isaac would see in his mortal life is the death of a pony who'd he never known before and the emphatic look of a ex-friend before the black pool swallowed the two down.

However, as many have said before, death is only the beginning.

* * *

**I always felt as though the use of over swearing was very distasteful. However, I've an idea that just because some swearing won't distract the reader, it doesn't mean that there has to be swearing in the first place. I myself am indifferent when it comes to vulgar language, but my conscious has been telling me that I should stop with the practice of saying anything you wouldn't want Saint Granny to hear. I'll do my best to update this story, needless of how many reviews or follows I get. I know that I'm stepping on a different ground than the normal violent stories that are usually posted for Dead Space fan fiction in general. To be honest, the work of Square Einx has been a great inspiration for this story, as you might have picked up on some references. And yes, I'm fully aware that Light vs Darkness is played out, but I was always a sucker for those sweet cliches. Also, I know this might seem sort of confusing, but if you give it a chance, I guarantee it'll flow out smoothly. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up very soon, thank you for reading this far!**


	2. All aboard the Soul Train

**I would like to take time to appreciate the few who've read this far. Thank you. Knowing that someone is reading this does actually give me an additional pleasure in writing this. Granted, I've already had fun writing this so far, but you guys make the rainy days seem okay. Thank you once again!**

* * *

The engineer rub his face groggily as he awoke from a feeling of deep sleep. His felt the heaviness of his eyelids beg him for him to go back to sleep, but nonetheless Isaac decided it probably wasn't a good idea to fall asleep sitting down on haunches. 'Haunches?' The engineer broke free from his weariness and stared at the white marble walls and ceiling that complemented the black carpet on the floor. The room was rather small and had only a large black screen mounted on the wall- parallel from the white mattress that was accompanied by a single pillow and green covers. As he stared through the window that too was parallel to a sliding door, he only could see a vast fog plaguing the horizon. Then recent memories came flooding back into his mind. Memories of betrayal. Of his death. "Carver." He murmured to himself as he clench his teeth.

"Who's Carver?" Isaac fell back on the mattress with surprise- accidentally bringing Virtue with him. She groaned. "Mind not doing that? I'm not exactly a morning pony."

"What? What are you doing here?" Virtue yawned as she clenched on to the pillow like a child would to a bear.

"Trying to sleep."

"I'm serious."

"So am I." Isaac sighed as he got off the mattress and stood on the small space of the floor. He looked back at the crusader to give her comeback, but paused as he discovered the lack of clothing on the white mare- her odd cutie mark of the roman numeral of 'IX' now visible to the engineer. He looked down on his left arm to see that his modules were too missing, but as he felt his back, he could feel the warm glow of this RIG.

"Virtue, where are we?"

"In a room."

"This looks like a sleeper."

"Then there you go, we're on a train." The engineer was so fed up, that he began to yank the tired mare off the bed. "Hey! What's your problem!?"

"My problem? My problem is that the last thing I remember doing is being dragged down into some pool of God-knows-what, and now I'm stuck here in some bedroom!" The engineer huffed, only to receive the same tired look from the swaying crusader.

"What?" She asked lazily before slowly looking down to see that her wound no

longer present. She stared at her stomach for a few moments before taking in a breath. "Yeah, we should probably see what's going on. Hold still."

"Wait, why?" Virtue responded by taking hold of Isaac's shoulder to support her weight as she fumbled to her hooves. The engineer rubbed his shoulder. "Well, what should we do?" Virtue chuckled, then pushed passed Isaac to the door to slide it open. "Alright, let's play detective."

* * *

Oddly enough, the walkway in the hall seemed to be very roomy compared to their cramp room. Virtue trotted to side of the door frame to make room for Isaac. When he turned back to slide the door back into place, he'd noticed that the door was labeled with Virtue's 'XIII' cutie mark rather than his own 'CEC' cutie mark. The engineer made a mental note to know remember the room encase they needed to come back. "Well, let's find somepony who know's what's going on." Virtue took a few steps forward before looking back to see the engineer staring at the fog outside through the windows that were parallel from the rooms. "Isaac, come on." The engineer nodded slowly before turning to follow her lead.

"Do you know where we're going?" Isaac asked concernedly.

"Honestly, I don't, but staying here isn't going to solve anything." Isaac shrugged as he continued to follower her down what seemed to be an endless hallway of bedrooms. Though the doors weren't see-through, the engineer could hear faint crying and hushed reassuring words. That's when Isaac began to notice that some of the cutie marks labeled on some of the doors were recognizable as some of the ponies Isaac had either worked for or seen around Ponyville. As they advanced further down, he could see cutie marks slowly form on some of the labeled doors- some he has seen before. A chill ran down Isaac's back, causing him to eventually slow down to a halt. The white unicorn noticed this, but continued to pace herself forward. "Come on Isaac, we can rest when we find somepony to answer our questions." The engineer paused as his attention returned back to the mesmerizing grey fog outside. He sighed.

"Are we not just going to talk about what happened earlier though?" Virtue quickly seized trotting before looking back to the engineer with her eyes squinted. "Aren't you…doesn't this feel unreal? Being dead?"

"What did you expect? You're the reason why we died; if anything, it should feel _very _real to you."

"What's that suppose to mean?" She sighed and turned around.

"Listen, Isaac, I know you might have meant well, but you didn't exactly do well. In fact, you were actually quite terrible. Who knows? Maybe you were right about the prophecy not being fully correct, either way, you're the reason why Niekas will be rising soon." The engineer continued to scowl at her irritated face. "All I know is that it's probably best if we go our separate ways now, I'm sure I'll see you around." She turned her head forward and jump backed in surprise to see a deep-blue earth pony standing in a white tunic looking back at her through his small red glasses which perfectly complimented his small eyes.

"Is everything fine here, babe?" Virtue contorted her face in displeasure.

"Don't call me 'babe'." The blue pegasus said not for a few moments before bursting into a laughing fit.

"Don't flatter yourself, I call everyone 'babe', babe." He then noticed Isaac and grinned. "Who's your coltfriend, babe?" The engineer finally got back on his hooves and walked beside the white unicorn, only to have her push away from the engineer. The blue earth pony flinched. "I see it's not all 'good in the hood'?" Isaac stepped forward and held his right hoof out, which the blue earth pony gladly shook.

"My name is Isaac Clarke, and you would be?" The blue earth pony raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Isaac Clarke? Wow, you just made my job a whole lot easier."

"You still didn't tell me who you are." The blue pony chuckled.

"Of course, baby! I'm Hermes, I was looking for you. Well, not me in particular, it's just my job to guide you to the boss."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm interested."

"Oh come on, cool-cat, you haven't even been proposed an offer yet, and you're already shutting me down? Uncool." The engineer shook his head.

"Look, I just want to know where I am." Hermes sighed.

"You'll have to forgive me; when you've delivered so many lost souls, you sometimes forget that the clients tend to be hesitant to follow requests." Hermes's winged sandals allowed him to quickly move next to the engineer's other side as he swung his arm over his neck. "Listen baby, I'll tell you where you are. You, my friend, are currently traveling over the Cocytus so that we can make a smart-stop at the Big Guy's headquarters." He nudged the engineer over towards the window and conjured a golden wand to use point it down. Isaac saw the water's settle ripples as the train continued over the metals tracks that were just above the chill water.

"I never said I'd go." The engineer muttered as he continued to look down at the grey water in a trance-like state. Hermes chuckled and patted his RIG.

"No offense, boo, but it doesn't exactly look like you have a choice now, does it?" The engineer said nothing. The winged-hoofed pony was about to say something, but a defeated exhale from the engineer caught his attention.

"What's in it for me?" Hermes let out a hearty laugh and slapped Isaac on his RIG.

"Now we're talking! Unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly what you'll be getting in return, but trust me, the Lord of the Underworld can be a great benefactor for the dead like you! Come on, you're moving up to first class, baby!" Hermes flew at a pace for the engineer to follow as he trotted unceasingly.

"Come on, Virtue, let's get goin-" Isaac halted in his tracks as he looked over his shoulder to see the absence of his acquaintance. "Virtue? Hey Hermes!" The flying earth pony stop in mid flight and quickly turned around.

"What's up?" He greeted in a casual tone.

"Have you seen Virtue?" Hermes paused to think a moment before remembering the white unicorn.

"Sorry babe, I can't say that I have."

"Can you hold up? I should probably find her." The engineer turned to begin his search, only to be met face-to-face with the blue pony. Isaac yelped before falling back on his flank. "Oh God, don't do that!" Hermes smiled amusingly.

"Cute, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave your little compañera to herself here."

"Why?"

"Well Isaac, did you notice the black screens in each room?" The engineer nodded. "You see, when the dead come here on Charon's caravan, their souls are placed in their own rooms for their travel purposes. But honey, it's more than just a cramped suite, it's where they're judged for their sins and righteousness. Since the Hades warmed up to the idea of advance progression, so have the traditions of the afterlife as well. Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus all loved the idea of having judgement passed on indirectly to save time, and it hasn't been a problem since. Each soul is drawn intimately back to their rooms until they've been judged, simple as that."

"Then why haven't I've been drawn to my room?"

"Good question. Let's solve that."

* * *

The two kept a good pace as they traversed across the the grey hallway.

Trivial small talk would take place between the two awkwardly at first, but as the two proceeded down further, Hermes would begin to tell Isaac about his culture and stories of the Gods. At first, needless to say, the engineer was extremely skeptical, but after being told the fact that he was speaking to a God on an ex-ferryman's train to meet the Lord of the Underworld, Isaac soon came to accept Herme's stories to be true. As Herme's as recalling his encounter with Argus. "So the poor freak guy think's I'm your average Shepard. One thing led to another with some spoken charms, and what happens? I'll tell you what happens, all one-hundred eyes are now asleep, and I bash him to death with a stone!" Isaac couldn't help but snicker as Herme's slammed one hoof over the other as he made onomatopoeic sound effects with his mouth. Isaac's snickers suddenly came to a stop as he recognized one of the labeled doors.

"Hey, hold on." The two came to a halt at the door. "I need to check on someo- somepony." Hermes groaned.

"What did I say before, Isaac? I'll say it again: You see, when the dead come here on Charon's caravan, their souls are placed in their own rooms for-"

"-their traveling purposes, I know, I know. But I really think I should at least check to see how she's doing." The blue earth pony peered at the engineer through his small red glasses before throwing his hooves up in defeat.

"Alright, alright! Make it quick, buster; we're on a tight schedule as it is."

"Thank you." The engineer attempted to tug at the sliding door, only to find it unwilling to open. "Mind helping me?"

"Sure thing, guy." Hermes conjured his golden wand once again and tap it gently on the door. The door quickly slid open and revealed a dark room. Hermes flinched. "Oooo, erm, Isaac?"

"Yeah, Hermes?"

"Make sure not to get your hopes up."

"Why?" Hermes gave a sad chuckle.

"You'll see why." Isaac gave him a puzzled look before gazing back into the dark room. Inside, the engineer could see that indeed the screen was showing moments of the soul's life. However, to his displeasure, the screen showed unsightly images from the first-person point of view of the final moments of his friend. There appeared to be the purple dragon that Isaac would see from time-to-time trying his hardest to keep the door shut. _From what?_ Thought the engineer as he continued to watch. There wasn't any sound, but Isaac could see the small dragon hysterically crying as the library's doors hinges begun to break off onto the ground. Isaac cringed as a tendril shattered through the wooden door and pulled the splintered piece of door that the dragon tried to keep together. From the eyes of the distressed victim, the screen moved as the pony attempted to gallop to the basement, only to recoil in horror as an army of small black critters- such critters that Isaac could only relate being like the swarmers he met while on the Ishimura and Titan Station- jump onto the dragon and easily overwhelm him to the hard floor. A lavender hoof reached for the outstretch purple arm and held on dearly to it. Isaac cringed when the severed purple arm came off in the lavender hoof. The arm threw the arm away hesitantly before releasing a series of reddish-pink blast- which only pushed the swarmers back. In an act of desperation, the pony attempted to fly through a window, only to be tacked by a bird-like black skull. As the lavender pony was slammed against the floor, the black stalker immediately proceed to dig into her ribs. The lavender hooves attempted to push the monster off, only to be rip from their sockets and cast off behind the stalker. Its long talons would occasionally take swipes at her face as it dug deeper into her exposed chest cavity. At one point, half of the screen went black after it took a swipe at the face. The creature continued to tear apart her organs as the screen went dark. It was finally over.

* * *

Isaac rubbed his face as he recovered from the gruesome televised memories. "Damn." He murmured. He took a breath before looking to his left to see a catatonic alicorn facing the screen in tears. "Twilight, it's me. It's me, Isaac- Isaac Clarke." She kept her head still, but her eyes slowly met his. She opened her mouth to say something, but found herself unable to speak. The engineer got on the bed and sat beside her side- Twilight kept her focus on him through the process. "It's okay, you're safe; it can't hurt you now." she clenched her teeth through her open mouth and shifted her shaking head to her right to Isaac's own face. Her bloodshot eyes shed tears once more as she began to hyperventile before lunging at the engineer to bury her face deep into his shoulder. She emitted a loud wail as she held on to Isaac tightly. The engineer was at a loss of words for a split moment. He slowly patted the back of the alicorn as he held her weeping body. "It's over now." He whispered as she embraced the engineer tighter. Isaac peeked over to Hermes- who was floating outside the room- and was met with an emphatic look.

* * *

**The scenes might have been too violent, but it was needed. Of course, granted this is a Dead Space crossover, some graphic images would be actually expected, wouldn't they? I'll try to do my best to work on the next chapter.**


	3. I remember, don't worry

**Hey there! I wanted to thank shadow55530 for not only following this story, but as well as reviewing it. I had fun writing this chapter, and I hope you have fun reading it. Enjoy!**

* * *

The journey of the three seemed short lived as they approach the black curtain that separated the bright-steel corridor of the judgement rooms. The ominous white glow of the overhead lights seemed to be absent from the dark fabric as they got closer. Hermes sighed in relief. "By the peak of Olympus, we're finally here." He hovered over to curtain- leaving the disagreeing engineer frowning.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't think it took too long."

"It would have been sooner if you didn't decide to bring her along." Hermes pointed his right hoof at the mumbling alicorn as she slowly made her way next to the engineer. Twilight Sparkle swayed nervously as she silently kept her focus ahead. Isaac eyes widened in disbelief.

"I couldn't just leave her there!" Hermes but his bottom lips and held his forehead.

"I know!" He took breath in and sighed slowly. "I know, it's just...Look, I know you meant well, but you have to look at this from my perspective: I was only suppose to deliver you to see Hades, and I had to find you instead in somepony else's room, and now I have to bring an invited guest over to the Lord of the Underworld! You can see stressful that is for me, babe." Isaac looked down to the ground in silence.

"I...I'm sorry, I guess I didn't that about it that way." Hermes couldn't help but smile and flew beside Isaac and patted him on top of his RIG.

"Hey, no hard feelings?" Isaac chuckled and nodded.

"No hard feelings."

"Good, because I'm not the touchy-feely kind of god. Know what I'm saying, know what I'm saying?" The engineer nodded. "Alright, shall we?" Without a given answer, the blue earth pony pulled back the black curtain to reveal the other side. Isaac was taken back in the beauty of the white marble hallway that contrasted that of the corridor that they were currently in. Brilliant beams of light shine down from the golden lining that traversed across the marvelous cloudy ceiling. The first class hallway seemed smaller compared to that of the other. "Come on, I'll take you to your room." Isaac opened in his mouth in awe as he began to follow the God of commerce. Twilight said nothing, but seemed visibly less frightened as she followed Isaac quickly.

* * *

The moment Isaac stepped hoof in the first class corridor, he felt the warm welcoming beams of light from above soak into his fur and mane. The tranquility felt alien to the engineer. He turned back to see the lavender alicorn break her semi-catatonic state as she lifted her head to view to the clouds that hovered above below the ceiling. Isaac smile at the sight of Twilight's lips curling slowly into a soft smile. "That's more like it." The sound of Isaac's voice brought back the alicorn from her trance. She blushed slightly as she continued to smile. "Are you going to be okay?" Twilight stood in silence and nodded.

"Hey-o, Isaac!" The engineer looked away from his shoulder and noticed Hermes waiting patiently next to a black door. As Isaac moved closer toward the slick door, he noticed that it bore his 'CEC' cutie mark.

"What's inside?" Isaac asked as he placed his right hoof on against its warm glossy surface.

"Only one way to find out, baby." The engineer gave a questionable look, but proceeded to slide open the door despite of the god's vague answer. The first difference Isaac could tell immediately between his room and the other room was the size. This room appeared to be fairly large in size- sporting multiple doors and a large window that exposed a night sky full of marvelous stars. The window was just in front of a small pool of water that seemed to ripple of its own. The walls were as white as the marble ceiling and its various columns that kept the roof in place. The lighting in the room seemed to come only from the white-marble hearth and its brilliant glow that illuminated the room warmly. The furniture seemed to be black in contrast with most of the room's ivory color. Isaac slowly crept in on the pale-gray tile and looked around in a blissful awe. "Not too shabby, if I say so myself." Hermes chimed in as he too flew into the room.

"Yeah…" The engineer croaked out. Before making his way to the hearth to get warm, he turned around and noticed Twilight staring at the ground in a trance-like state. "Hey Twilight, you can come inside, you know?" The lavender pony kept her focus on the ground and shrugged. "Twi-" The engineer was cut off by the hoof of Hermes as the god quickly shook his head.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Isaac pushed the hoof away from his lips and quirked an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I? She's my friend."

"I know, but...you still have to be given your judgement." The engineer scowled in confusion.

"I thought that Hades guy wanted to see me."

"He still does, but...it's protocols and you won't be able to leave this train until you do."

"Who's going to stop me?" Hermes raised his hooves up.

"Easy there tiger. It's not an entity, but the train itself won't allow you to exit until you've been judged." Isaac looked away and nodded as Hermes flew next to him. "Buddy, I haven't experienced your life personally, but just know that if you let somepony as..." Hermes turned his head to see the lavender alicorn's head beginning to violently shake as tears began to stream down her cheeks softly. "...unstable as her see even more than she had to witness today already, you'll be risking breaking her further. Is that something you'd be willing to risk?" Isaac opened his mouth to argue against Hermes, but found that no words could come out, not because of any sorcery, but due to his own conscience. He stared at the depressed alicorn and back to the black screen just above the hearth's fire. The engineer thought for a long hard moment before coming to a conclusion. He trotted slowly to Twilight and sighed.

"Hey." Her gaze slowly met his as she lifted her head. "I...I need you to stay outside for now." She said nothing as she quirked her head in confusion. "You know that screen that showed you your life? The accomplishments and...and that last part." A chill ran up her spine at the mention of what she last witnessed. She began to hyperventilate as she shook her head in disapproval. "I don't want you to see what I had to go through, it's not something anypony should have to see. So...I'll get you once I'm done." She stared blankly at the engineer through bloodshot eyes and shook her head briskly. The engineer sadly smiled as he patted her on her shoulder. "Hey, from what I saw at the end, you'll be going to a good place. Hermes thought so too." He gave her one last pat before turning to slide close the door. Just before he could lock it into place, a lavender hoof prevented him from doing so. He frowned and opened the door to see a weak smile coming from Twilight's face.

"It's better to suffer with a friend than to suffer alone." She hushed as she moved passed Isaac and made her way to the black couch that was paralleled to the screen. Hermes gave Isaac a quizzical look before shaking his head as he made his way outside to close the door.

"I'll be out here if either one you need me." Isaac nodded and hesitantly made his way to the couch.

* * *

If as on cue, the fire dimmed as the screen flickered to life. 'Greetings' it read on the screen in a white greek-styled font, 'By the power of the three judges Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus, we present you with your life. At the end of the following scenes, you'll receive your judgment.' The message ended as soon as the engineer finished reading it. The beginning showed the birth of the engineer through his own eyes as bright white lights blinded the screen into a brilliant glow. When the light faded, a man in green scrubs could be seen removing the baby's umbilical cord with a pair of metal scissors. Isaac could see a glimpse of his father standing next to his mother before being wiped clean of blood. Afterward, the infant was wrapped in a warm blanket before being given to his smiling mother. She mouthed his name before the screen faded to white. The next scene showed Isaac's childish hands using a screwdriver while crafting what appeared to be a small toy. The child paused before dropped the screwdriver and looking up across the living room table to see Octavia Clarke giving praise at an altar of the marker. From the bottom of the screen, the young Isaac's fists could be seen clenched in hatred. Another transition of white occurred before the scene played out. Isaac held a letter from an engineering academy, and seemed to be reading its contents. Isaac turned over the paper to read its backside, but as soon as he turned it over, the screen immediately focused on the high tuition fees. His hand began to shake before he crumpled the paper and tossed it across the dimly lit living room. The screen panned out quickly as if though the engineer seemed to be in a fit of rage. He quickly grabbed a small replica of a marker from the brown coffee table and proceeded to smash it against the floor. Seemingly not satisfied, Isaac rushed over to a wall where a line of unitologist mask were presented in a decorative fashion and angrily begin to tear part the mask with his hands. The following scene showed Isaac graduating college near a polluted coastline as he made his way to the wooden pedestal where a man in a suit could be seen giving the students their degrees followed by him shaking their hands eagerly. When it was Isaac's turn, he hastily made his way up to shake the man's hand and held his degree in one hand excitedly. He turned back to his peers to see a blond young woman smiling back him as she applaud him. The next white screen transitioned into a short clip of Isaac seeing his superiors of the Merchant Marines division mouthing something to the engineer and proceeded to shake his hand one by one. After the short clip, Isaac could be seen hugging Nicole Brennan goodbye before boarding the USG Kellion. The next three long scenes consisted of Isaac's first encounter with the necromorphs as he boarded the USG Ishimura and those he's lost, Isaac's journey through Titan Station and his beginning love life with Ellie Langford, then lastly of Tau Volantis and seeing the brethren moons attack Earth. The screen transitioned into black for what seemed to be for hours before it faded to Isaac laying down in a pile of burning metal debris. As the engineer laid there hazily, he could see the silhouette of another pony with a red RIG shakily stand to his four hooves to look up at a tall alicorn with raised wings wearing a black. The screen faded to black as Isaac fell into an unconscious state. When he awoke, he laid motionless in a white bed in a room of a hospital. Many scenes that followed were recent memories of Twilight visiting Isaac as he recovered in the hospital, then of him moving in to the library. The final scene was of the fateful day that the engineer met Virtue and the expressionless look upon Carver's face as the engineer sunk below into the black pool of the unknown.

* * *

Isaac sat there with his left hoof covering his eyes as he held his forehead. Though some memories were better than some, he couldn't help but feel a wave of pain wash over him as the judgement concluded. Though he could recall the memories that were set before him, the one that stuck out to him the most was of the his arrival at Equestria. _Who was Carver talking to?_ Mused the engineer as he tried to come to answer his own question. _It was an alicorn, but whom?_ Isaac's concentration was broke by a small weeping. "I'm...I'm sorry Isaac." Twilight murmured before wiping her eyes with a hoof. Isaac grinned softly.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." Twilight shook her head in disbelief.

"How can you say that after seeing that?" The engineer shrugged with a light chuckle.

"I don't really know why, but I feel…I feel as though I did the best that I could do. Like you." Twilight squinted her eyes in confusion before gulping down a choke.

"What do you mean?"

"Even when you were surrounded by those things, you did your best to try to fight against them; you didn't give up, you did good." Her face immediately went from sorrow to rage.

"Did good!? I didn't do good, Isaac, I let Spike die! I didn't act fast enough to save him! I gave up, Isaac...Okay!?" She felt her puffy eyes begin to swell up in anger. "I should have did more instead of hiding in the corner like a coward, I should have grabbed him and left through the window! Teleport! Something!" She grunted before looking away from the engineer. "It wasn't suppose to end like that." The engineer could hear hushed sobs as she hid her head in her arms on the armrest of the couch. "I was always told that princesses were suppose to have good lives, find their true love, and have a happy ending." She turned her head to glare at the engineer with her burning bloodshot eyes. "Where was that in my life, Isaac? Where's my happy ending? Where is it?!" The engineer scowled lightly at the distressed alicorn.

"Where it is? I'll tell you where it is." Twilight kept her glare at Isaac- waiting for an answer. "When half my body was covered in bandages, a merry pony used to come visit me every week, asking me about who I was, and what I've done. Feeling overwhelmed, I refused to answer her questions, but she still didn't give up on asking them nonetheless. No, she would come by and instead of pestering me, she would tell me about herself. I wouldn't admit it, but the tales she told of her and her friends were awe inspiring, and it made me look forward to her every visit. She would sometimes bring me small souvenirs ranging from all the way from a magical kingdom to a small gift shop she would pass by occasionally. Hell, one time she showed me some goofy looking scepter with a small golden head that looked exactly liked her's, and then she would tell me something about a thousand-year-old chest." Twilight- though still stressed- couldn't help but snicker at Isaac's poor recollection of her scepter. "And though I admit now that I was pretty doped up while listening to most of her stories and I can't really recall most of them, I looked forward to seeing her and to listen to her talk for hours in that hospital." Twilight chuckled.

"It's not like you had anything else to look forward to." Isaac snickered and nodded.

"True, but that's where I made my first friend in Equestria. She eventually took me in her old home, and welcomed me warmly."

"She also paid for your hospital fees." The lavender alicorn chimed in once again.

"That she did." Isaac agreed. "And even though I was healthy and active once more, she would still would find the time visit me on lonely nights and spend the night with me, telling me of her latest adventures and how her friends were." Twilight smirked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Do you remember which friends she would talk about?"

"I remember, don't wory. There were six friends that she would always talk about."

"And what were their names?"

"Well, there was Rainbow Dash, and from what I was told, she was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane. She wanted to be a Wonderbolt and she was very loyal from what I recall my friend telling me."

"She was."

"Then there was a shy yellow pegasus with a light-pink mane. She was great with animals, kind to everypony she would come across, and even stood up against a dragon and a draconequus. Even though some would call her weak and feeble, my friend told me that her name was Fluttershy, and she had a very warm heart." Twilight nodded in agreement as a smile emerged from her lips. "There was also two earth ponies. One was orange with a blond mane who was a honest hard-working farmer who would sometimes butt heads with Rainbow Dash; her name was Applejack. She was very protective of her sister, Applebloom, from what my friend told me. Then," Isaac chuckled as he recalled his favorite one out of the five friends, "there was the pink one. She was very energetic and always did her best to make sure everypony had a smile on their face everyday. She loved parties and wanted to make friends with everypony; I know because I met up with her while I was out shopping for food, and she wanted to throw me a party. Of course, my friend made sure I didn't refuse Pinkie Pie's offer, and you know what, it turned out to be the best party I've ever been to."

"You're missing one more."

"No I'm not." Isaac assured Twilight. "There was the white unicorn with a well-styled purple mane and fake eyelashes. She would make dresses for her friends, and even owned her own business. She was very generous, and would donate some her own time and resources to help out the community. In fact, she and her sister, Sweetie Belle, would donate small toys to the orphanage that her little knew because her friend was somepony by the name of Scootaloo, and she looked up to Rainbow Dash as her idol. Sometimes, I would see the two sisters together, and Sweetie Belle would always wonder aloud why Rainbow Dash didn't want to adopt Scootaloo, and Rarity would always reassure her that Rainbow Dash did want to adopt Scootaloo, but couldn't due to her lifestyle." Isaac shook his head as he stared intently into the hearth's fire. "Was it because she was selfish? Or was it an excuse for her not to admit that she wasn't ready to take on the responsibility of being Scootaloo's guardian? I'm not sure, but deep down I knew as well as everypony that even though there were no legal documents signed, they still made great sisters." Twilight, now no longer appearing angry, nodded in agreement. "So where is it, the good life of the princess? Well, she always had a good life." The engineer patted her shoulder and smiled. "And not even death's going to stop her from getting her happy ending, that I know." Twilight lifted her head from the arm rest and with a large smile.

"Where does that leave her and her friend?" Isaac chuckled and shrugged.

"That's for them to decide." His gaze left her's as he noticed a new message appear on the black screen. "Tartarus? Strange, do you think that's like Elysium?" Twilight Sparkle's smile faded into an expression of sheer terror. "What?"

"Isaac, that's not...that's not a place you want to go!" The engineer was squinted his in confusion.

"What do you mean? What's Tartrus?"

"It's a deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked!" Twilight began to panic as she stood up to pace around the room, but fell as a wave of pain rushed over her. Isaac quickly got up to aid her at her side.

"What does that mean?" She gritted her teeth as the pain washed over her slowly. She gasped in a breath before looking at the engineer with sorrowful eyes.

"That means you're going to Hell, Isaac."


End file.
